HiRes: A System for Predictable Hierarchical Resource Management

This paper presents HiRes, a system structured around predictable, hierarchical resource management (HRM). Applications and different subsystems use customized resource managers that control the allocation and usage of memory, CPU, and I/O. This increased resource management flexibility enables subsystems with different timing constraints to specialize resource management around meeting these requirements. In HiRes, subsystems delegate the management of resources to other subsystems, thus creating the resource management hierarchy. In delegating the control of resources, the subsystem focuses on providing isolation between competing subsystems. To make HRM both predictable and efficient, HiRes ensures that regardless of a subsystem's depth in the hierarchy, the overheads of resource usage and control remain constant. In doing so, HiRes encourages HRM as a fundamental system design technique. Results show that HiRes has competitive performance with existing systems, and that HRM naturally provides both strong isolation guarantees, and flexible and efficient subsystem control over resources.